Doha, July 19 (QNA) - The Arab Book Award announced Saturday that it had received 1,043 nominations from 41 Arab and foreign countries across its various award categories, marking the conclusion of the submissions period for the third cycle (2025–2026).

The Award aims to support authorship and scientific research in Arabic and to enhance the status of the Arab book within the realm of quality knowledge production.

Media Advisor for the Arab Book Award Professor Dr. Hanan Al Fayyad stated that the Award's judging committee received 960 nominations in the Single Book category and 83 nominations in the Achievement category.

She affirmed that this broad participation reflects growing interest in the Award and its increasing prominence within academic and cultural circles in the Arab world and beyond. The fact that submissions came from 41 countries demonstrates the Award's success in reaching creative researchers and writers across diverse regions.

Al Fayyad pointed out that nominated works consisted of 32 percent in the field of social and philosophical studies, 27 percent in linguistic studies, 16 percent in historical studies, 16 percent in Islamic studies, and 9 percent in the category of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and text editing.

Al Fayyad said that the judging panels, comprised of experts from across the Arab world, are operating with integrity and transparency to select the best works.

The nominated entries will undergo detailed and varied evaluation phases to ensure the honor of winning and the fairness of the process. These are expected to conclud by December.

The Achievement category is dedicated to honoring individuals with distinguished contributions in one of the prize's knowledge areas, as well as institutions and publishing houses.

Final screening and the announcement of winners will take place at a special ceremony in early 2026.

She emphasized that the importance of the prize, valued at a total of USD 1 million, goes beyond the financial aspect, embodying a civilizational message to restore the book's role as a tool for critical thinking, creativity, and change.

The Arab Book Award is granted under two main categories: the Single Book category, which includes books authored in Arabic that belong to designated knowledge fields within the prize. These works must be published in print, have an international deposit number, be written within the last four years, and exceed 30,000 words in length.

They must adhere to scientific standards of methodology and referencing and represent a qualitative contribution to Arab culture. The author must be alive at the time of nomination.

Nominations in the Single Book category must be submitted by the author personally; nominations submitted by third parties are not accepted.

Only one work may be submitted, and authors may not nominate in both categories. Joint books are accepted as long as they are not the result of group conferences or symposiums, and all contributors must consent to the submission.

The Achievement category honors individuals or institutions that have delivered long-term knowledge-based projects. Their work must demonstrate originality and distinction and offer a tangible contribution to human knowledge.

Nominees must comply with intellectual property rights and submit supporting documents via the prize's official website.

Notably, this cycle's five knowledge domains were designated for focused studies. These include: literary and critical studies of Arab heritage up to the end of the 10th Hijri century; social and philosophical studies, with this cycle focusing on intellectual and economic studies; historical studies, specifically Arab and Islamic history from the end of the 6th Hijri century to the end of the 12th; Islamic sciences and studies, with this cycle devoted to Prophetic biography and Hadith studies (the previous cycle focused on jurisprudence principles); and dictionaries, encyclopedias, and text editing, with this cycle specializing in linguistic text editing. (QNA)